The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) said it had suspended the referee who officiated the Argentina-Brazil World Cup qualifier match at dawn on Wednesday (Makkah Al Mukarramah time) and the referee responsible for the video assistant referee system (VAR) for making "serious mistakes".
The Continental Confederation said that Argentine defender Nicolas Otamendi committed - in the 39th minute of the match - a clear mistake against Brazilian winger Rafinha that the referees did not pay attention to, although he caused a wound in Rafinha's mouth and her behavior could be considered violent.
The match ended in a goalless draw.
⚠️ Por esta jugada y la NO expulsión de Nicolás Otamendi, la Conmebol suspendió al árbitro Andrés Cunha ya Esteban Ostojich (juez del VAR) por tiempo indeterminado.
pic.twitter.com/9S4qPObfhj
— Gustavo López (@guslopezinfo) November 17, 2021
Brazil coach Tite was furious, saying it was "inconceivable" that the VAR had not seen what Otamendi had done.
The Confederation of South American Football said - in a statement - "After the technical analysis of the behavior of the referee of the arena Andres Ismail Kona Soca Vargas and the referee of the video system Esteban Daniel Vega .. it was proven that they committed serious and clear mistakes."
CONMEBOL added that the arena referee and the video system referee were suspended "indefinitely".
After the draw, Argentina qualified - along with Brazil - for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.